The Game
by Soon to be world renown Gracie
Summary: Jim didn't understand why Sherlock was so upset. He only wanted to play... Warning: disjointed thoughts of a madman, spoilers for TGG.


Jim didn't understand why Sherlock was so upset. He only wanted to play…

Warning: disjointed thoughts of a madman, hopefully a bit creepy, spoilers for TGG.

I don't own Sherlock. This was done purely for fun.

Right now, this is a one-shot but I'm thinking of expanding this. Let me know what you think!

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><p>Jim liked this game he had created. He had the woman tied in the semtex in her car and it was with glee that he typed the words for her to say. Butterflies were going wild in his stomach, waiting for his friend to solve the puzzle. Quite frankly, Jim thought this was too easy for Sherlock he was going to ruin it before they really had the chance to start playing! He supposed that was the risk when being best friends with a genius - a small thrill of pride surged through him. Sherlock was brilliant.<p>

Sherlock saved the girl fairly quickly and Jim turned his attention to the man, then the older woman. The pawns in chess weren't important, but this pawn, the old woman, she tried to move in a way that was illegal. It was only right that he terminate her. It made perfect sense – she was taking away their fun, ruining the surprise! Sherlock would approve – he liked surprises.

For his fifth pip, Jim had the biggest shocker of all. He had been predictable with the first four and Jim absolutely hated predictability.

The dog was easy to take from under big brother's nose and Jim was practically dancing with glee. "He's going to be so surprised!" He crowed to Sebastian, his number one 'henchman' (though Seb hated to be called that), "We're going to have so much fun!"

Seb smiled indulgently at his happiness and finished wrangling the dog into the semtex.

The dog wasn't a pawn in this game – he was a knight. Able to move in a way pawns weren't, able to come from the side, to stun. And that surprise would be what brought about a new element to the game. Surprise made people unpredictable and Jim absolutely loved unpredictability. It made him think faster, gave him adrenaline and butterflies, and always made him happy.

He let the dog go out to meet his master and Jim waited for just the right moment to make himself known to his friend. How would his face look? Would he be excited to see how it all came together? Jim thought he would. After all, best friends knew what the other wanted, and he knew that Sherlock wanted something to help with his boredom. Maybe Sherlock would be proud of him for coming up with the game for him! He hoped Sherlock wouldn't have the game figured out already. He tried to make it difficult enough.

He gave a brief thought to that, pausing before walking into the pool room, and shook his head. No, the game had just the right amount of difficulty for the optimal amusement of both parties involved.

When he made himself known with a friendly greeting for his friend, Sherlock's face registered shock then recognition, in the split second before it settled into a cool mask of indifference.

Success! He had rendered the man speechless with his gesture! Jim mentally patted himself on the back.

They had their little back and forth, Jim teasing and flirting and revealing the whole game to Sherlock, revealing his brilliance, showing Sherlock how the future could be if they kept playing together.

And here Jim frowned, Sherlock seemed… upset?

"People have died!"

"That's what people DO!" Jim didn't mean to raise his voice – not at Sherlock, never at Sherlock – and he quickly pulled himself together, but this small bit of confusion remained. This was their great game! He had worked so hard! Where was the praise, where was the amusement? This wasn't at all the way he had planned it.

The dog made a somewhat noble gesture for its master, jumping on his back and, quite frankly, ruffling his suit in such an unbecoming way, and suddenly Jim understood. The dog was the problem. It was changing Sherlock, changing the game in such subtle ways, Jim had barely noticed. It was his own fault really, Jim mentally sighed. He had to get rid of the dog, rid of Sherlock's humanity, of his, dare he say, heart?

"I will burn you. I will burn the heart out of you."

And he would, he promised himself. Without the dog, Sherlock would revert back to his usual self – unfeeling of those pawns, the useless pieces tossed aside during the course of their playful battle, the pieces Jim eagerly rid himself of while Sherlock seemed to stumble over every discarded piece (it was slowing down their fun, Jim pouted). It was a new development, one only shown since the dog came into their lives. An easy enough situation to remedy, Jim supposed. Seb would help keep the dog busy so he and Sherlock could play!

The rest of the night went fairly quickly and Jim was happy enough with the outcome.

"Next time," he promised Seb as the Colonel drove him home, both of them covered in dust and grinning wildly, "the game will be better! Can you imagine it? Sherlock will like the next game even more!"

Seb smiled at him, fondness evident in his eyes and Jim smiled wildly back, "Can you feel the excitement? We shall have to start planning right away! Sherlock does get bored so very easily, you know…"


End file.
